Tactics board: Newcastle United must give Rolando Aarons a start at Southampton

It might be time for Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew to consider a 4-3-3 formation to improve the team's creativity

Rolando Aarons of Newcastle United celebrates scoring their second goal against Crystal Palace

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If Newcastle United delivered a more feckless away day display last season than the one they served up at St Mary’s, it doesn’t bear thinking about.

Sure, Sunderland was painful. Arsenal at the Emirates was not a day to remember either. But for sheer surrender, the trip to Southampton takes some beating.

It is worth remembering, too, that the two worst performers on that day were Hatem Ben Arfa and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, who was deployed in an unfamiliar right-back slot and sunk without a trace on the South Coast. You might suggest that it was there that the final nail was hammered into their respective coffins.

Both are gone now but Alan Pardew’s hoped-for new era has not quite taken off. While neither Ben Arfa nor Yanga-Mbiwa were likely to start many matches at the start of the season, their departures have been a lightening conductor for early criticism of the manager’s methods.

It probably says more about Pardew’s unpopularity than it does about their relative merits that we are so prepared to indulge that criticism but the fact is the dual departures of two fringe men haven’t changed that much. Pardew still has two massive problems to solve – scoring and defending.

To be precise, the United manager needs to get his front men into more dangerous positions and his defenders playing more effectively than they did on Saturday, a day when Crystal Palace scored three goals which might have been prevented.

They did score three times but none came from forward-thinking players who are likely to start games. So the answer seems simple: whatever the risks, Rolando Aarons must start when the team make the long trek to the South Coast.

The argument against is that he’s more effective off the bench but he has earned it. Moussa Sissoko might be the man to pay the price, too, with his continued presence in the first XI difficult to justify when he offers not-a-heck-of-a-lot playing on the right of midfield.

Remy Cabella appears to be feeling his way into the English game too, which means that Newcastle’s 4-2-3-1 system is not purring as it should. Perhaps in time it will be for the trip to Southampton it is clear that Pardew needs to try something new.

A personal feeling is that Newcastle have always looked that little bit brighter when they set up in a 4-3-3 and they do have the personnel to make that work. Papiss Cisse always seemed to do better when asked to play as part of a three and Manu Riviere might benefit from the support.

The return of Cheick Tiote would certainly help. His comeback cannot come soon enough: his absence has confirmed his importance to the black and white cause.

Tiote might also solve the problems at the back. Fabricio Coloccini’s unlikely hesitancy has given Newcastle headaches but now that the transfer window is closed, there is no-one else. It seems a kamikaze move if there are to be injuries but we must hope that Pardew knows what he is doing.